Basic Marketing Research with Excel 3rd Edition by Alvin Burns,Ronald Bush

Exercise 10

Your Integrated Case
Advanced Automobile Concepts Summarization Analysis
Cory Rogers was happy to call Nick Thomas to inform him that Advanced Automobile Concepts survey data were collected and ready for analysis. Of course, Rogers had other marketing research projects and meetings scheduled with present and prospective clients, so he called in his data analyst, Celeste Brown. Brown was a recently graduated marketing major who had worked as a marketing intern at CMG Research last year. She had worked on a few small CMG survey data sets, but she had not yet tackled any large projects. Rogers called Brown into his office and said, "Celeste, it is time to do some analysis on the survey we did for Nick Thomas of Advanced Automobile Concepts. I am going to assign you primary responsibility for all data analysis on this important project. For now, let's just get a feel for what the data look like. I'll leave it up to your judgment as to what analyses to run, but for now, do some summarizations in order to reveal the basic patterns and to gain an understanding of the nature of the variability in the data. Let's meet on Thursday at 2:30 pm to see what you have found."
Your task in Case is to take the role of Celeste Brown, marketing analyst. The data set for the Advanced Automobile Concepts survey is now ready for summarization analysis. The file name is AAConcepts.xlsm, and it is in XL Data Analyst data file format. The instructor of your marketing research course will tell you how to access this data set. The data set sample represents American households, and it includes owners as well as nonowners of vehicles, because the hybrid vehicles being developed and marketed by the Advanced Automobile Concepts division of ZEN Motors will not "hit" the market for three to five more years.
The AAConcepts Define Variables worksheet defines the variables, but for easy reference, here is a list of the major variables in the survey. For any variables where the data coding is not clear in this case description, refer to the Define Variables worksheet.
All of the attitude variables are measured with a 7-point Likert scale, where 1 = "very strongly disagree" and 7 = "very strongly agree." The likelihoods of buying new automobile types are measured on a 100-point probability scale. The lifestyle types are measured on a 10-point scale, where 1 = "does not describe me at all" and 10 = "describes me almost perfectly." The preferences scale is a 7-point scale, with 1 = "very undesirable" and 7 = "very desirable."
Demographics
? Hometown size
? Gender
? Marital status
? Number of people in family
? Age category
? Education category
? Job type category
? Income category
? Dwelling type
Attitudes: Global Warming (Measure: 1-7)
? I am worried about global warming.
? Global warming is a real threat.
? We need to do something to slow global warming.
Attitudes: Gasoline Prices (Measure: 1-7)
? Gasoline prices will remain high in the future.
? Gasoline prices are too high now.
? High gasoline prices will impact what type of autos are purchased.
Automobile Ownership
? Primary vehicle price category
? Primary vehicle type
? Type of commuting
Attitudes: Gasoline Usage (Measure: 1-7)
? Gasoline emissions contribute to global warming.
? Americans use too much gasoline.
? We should be looking for gasoline substitutes.
Attitudes: Effects of New Automobile Types (Measure: 1-7)
? Very small autos with very high mpg will reduce fuel emissions.
? Very small autos with very high mpg will keep gas prices stable.
? Very small autos with very high mpg will slow global warming.
? Small autos with high mpg will reduce fuel emissions.
? Small autos with high mpg will keep gas prices stable.
? Small autos with high mpg will slow global warming.
? Hybrid autos that use alternative fuels will reduce fuel emissions.
Probabilities of Buying Hybrid Automobile Types (Measure: 0%-100%)
? Probability of buying a very small (one-seat) hybrid auto within three years?
? Probability of buying a small (two-seat) hybrid auto within three years?
? Probability of buying an economy-size hybrid auto within three years?
? Probability of buying a standard-size hybrid auto within three years?
? Probability of buying a large-size hybrid auto within three years?
Lifestyle Type (Measure: 1-10)
? Novelist -very early adopter, risk taker, "way out," "show off," want to be unique and special
? Innovator -Early adopter, less a risk taker than novelist, but into new technology; likes new products, but not a "show off"
? Trendsetter -Opinion leaders, well off financially and educationally, often the first adopters of new trends that are adopted by most of society
Favorite Television Show Type
? Comedy
? Drama
? Movies/Mini-series
? News/Documentary
? Reality, Science Fiction
? Sports
Favorite Magazine Type
? Business Money
? Music Entertainment
? Family Parenting
? Sports Outdoors
? Home Garden
? Cooking-Food Wine
? Trucks-Cars Motorcycles
? News-Politics Current Events
? Hybrid autos that use alternative fuels will keep gas prices down.
? Hybrid autos that use alternative fuels will slow global warming.
Preferences for Various Types of Hybrid Automobile Models (Measure: 1-7)
? Super cycle one-seat; 120+ mpg city
? Runabout sport two-seat; 90 mpg city, 120 mpg highway
? Runabout with luggage two-seat; 80 mpg city, 110 mpg highway
? Economy four-seat; 70 mpg city, 100 mpg highway
? Standard four-seat; 50 mpg city, 80 mpg highway
? Forerunner -Early majority of population, respected and fairly well off; not opinion leaders, but adopt new products before the "average" person
? Mainstreamer -Late majority of population, "average people" who are reserved and deliberate
? Classic -Laggards who cling to "old" ways
For each of the following questions, it is your task to determine the type of scale for each variable, so that you can conduct the proper summarization analysis with XL Data Analyst, and to interpret it.
What is the automobile ownership profile of respondents in the survey?